Lewiston receives first look at proposed Ellicott Development plaza

New tenants could include a fast food restaurant, a bank and a drugstore

by Joshua Maloni

Members of the public have received their first look at the proposed Ellicott Development project eyed for Center Street. At Monday’s Village of Lewiston Planning Board meeting, David M. Hall, planning and development coordinator for the Buffalo-based property management firm, informed attendees – including four members of the Village Board of Trustees – of his company’s intention to build the village’s first north-side plaza.

The development would begin on Center Street and lead down to Onondaga Street. Potential tenants include a fast food restaurant, a bank and a drugstore. Hall said Ellicott Development’s planned plaza is “relatively similar” to the Colonial Valley (CVS) Plaza and the Rite Aid plaza.

“What we’re proposing is a mix of uses, primarily retail,” he said. “We’re looking at approximately 25,000 square feet of retail, actually, with a number of different buildings – one of which will be right at the corner of North Eighth and Center Street, which we’d like to have as a two-story to accommodate the change in elevation.”

As presented Monday, the project would feature a restaurant in its southwest corner (below a retaining wall leading to Center Street); a two-story building on the North Eighth Street corner utilizing a mix of retail uses (or a bank); and a six-unit residential site. The plaza is highlighted by a brand-new, stand-alone drugstore taking the place of woodlands on Onondaga Street (across from the new Fairchild condo complex). The plaza would include crosswalks, stairs and landscaped islands.

Hall said Ellicott Development has had talks with McDonald’s about taking the restaurant unit, and with Rite Aid about the drugstore spot.